William ehodes



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Railroad Switch- Patented Ja 4,1881.

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, i Railroad Switc hw N0. 236, 60- Patented .Jan. 4,1881.

v WITNESSES: r INVENTO/i Z M %ZW v of the signal.

FFEQQ WILLIAM RHODES, NEW YORK, N. Y.

RAlLROAD-SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 236,260, dated January 4, 1881.

Application filed September 27, 1880.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM RHODES, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in a Railroad-Switch; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in thelart'to which itappertains to make and use the same.

In the accompanying drawings, in which similarletters of reference indicate like parts, Figure 1 is a plan view of a section of railroad embodying my invention, showing the switch set forthe siding and the signal in corresponding position. Fig. 2 is a view, in elevation, of a like section of railroad, showing the switch in like position. Fig. 3 is a front view Fig. 4. is a plan view of the shifting brace; Fig. 5, a sectional view of the shifting brace, and Fig. 6 a side view of the detecting-bar. I

The invention consists in so arranging a connected series of rods, bell-cranks, and springs as to operate the switch, the lock, the signal, and the detecting-bar simultaneously by the action of a single lever located at the station or other desirable point.

In the drawings, A is a lever. B is a rod, that may connect with the bell-crank D or the bell-crank D. If B connects with the bellcrank D the rod B will connect the bell-crank D to the bell-crank D. The rod 1) connects the bell-crank D to the swinging end of the shifting brace E. The reciprocating braces E and E are attached to the frame P at the common center I. I p

The spiral tension 'spring G has one end attached to the swinging end of the brace E, and the other end of the spring G is attached to the swinging end of the swinging brace E, so arranged that the movement of the lever A, swinging said end of brace E to one side or the other of center I, causes the free end of the brace E, pivoted upon the said center, to swing similarly to one side or the other of said center by reason of the drawing tension of the spring G. The said movement or the free end of the brace E opens and closes the switch K K by the longitudinal movement of the eonnectinglink or red O. The longi- (ModeL) tudinal movement of the connecting-rod O is communicated to the connecting-rod O, which actuates the bell-crank connected to the signal is by the'rod 0.

Attached to the reciprocating end of E is the plate 13, mortised atf f to receive the sliding bolt ya This bolt is actuated by the rod N, one end of which is held in connection with a projection upon the free end of brace E by a nut and compressiou-sprin g, a, while the other end of the rod is secured to the bolt. As during the vibration of braces E and E the distance between their ends lengthened midway of the vibration and shortened at the extremities of. the vibration, it will be seen that during the first half of the vibration of E the bolt Y willbe withdrawn from the mortisef, and as the brace E moves on in the last half of the vibration the brace E will be promptly vibrated by the drawing tension of the spring Gr before the final movement of E shall have again thrust the bolt Y into the mortisef.

When the switch-lock is held back by a nut applied atilt theswitch K K will operate as a trailing-switch, and trains may be run onto the main track through it from either the main or side tracks. ,Attached to and actuated by a bell-crank, D, is the connecting-rod b, movin g simultaneously with the switch-rails K K, and operating the lever S, one end of which lever .being inserted in the notch h of the de tecting-bar'H, slides it longitudinally over the supports X X. The notches h in the under side of H allow it to sink below the level of the rail at the extreme limit of its longitudinal movement, out of reach of the flanges ot' the passing car-wheel, and the separating elevation T prevents H from moving longitudinally over the supports X X when His held down by the flange of the car-wheel above it, and thus blocks the movement of the switchra-ils K K. 1

What I claim is- 1. The shifting braces E E, and the spiral spring Gr,in combination with connecting-rods and one or more bell-cranks, and the actuating-lever A, substantially as described.

2. The reciprocating braces E and E, and the spiral spring G, in combination with the connecting-rod U, the switch-rails K K, arranged and operating in the manner specified.

3. The reciprocating braces E E, and the 5. The detecting-bar H, having the notches spiral spring G, in combination with the crank, it and h, in combination with the supports X 10 connecting rods, and signal k, for the uses as X, and a railroad-switch operatingin the mandescribed. ner and for the purposes described and shown. 5 4. The combination of the actuating-lex 'er WILLIAM RHODES.

A, with the rods, cranks, braces, and springs, \Vitnesses:

with the locking-bolt Y, constructed and oper- J AMES H. SOUTHWORTH,

ating as shown and described. JAMES B. MANAHAN. 

